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June 09, 2008

Education Coalition Experts Details Impact of May 's Revised Budget

Contact: Robin Swanson c:(916) 204-6890

Sacramento – Today experts representing the Education Coalition provided a detailed analysis of the Governor’s May Revision budget proposal, showing how it would cut $4.3 billion from schools and students, and undermine critical programs that help student achievement, like class size reduction.

The panel also reviewed a series of charts, including one that showed how cuts would impact summer school, home-to-school transportation, art and music, school counseling, child nutrition and other critical programs.

“We’ve looked at the Governor’s proposal very closely, and there’s simply no way $4.3 billion in cuts won’t directly impact students in the classroom,” said Lynne Faulks, Manager of Legislative Relations for the California Teachers Association. “Whether cutting class size reduction programs or deferring badly needed payments to schools, at the end of the day, it’s our students who pay the price.”

California already has some of the most overcrowded classrooms and the greatest shortages of librarians, counselors and other critical support staff in the nation. According to Education Week, California already ranks 46th out of 50 states in per-pupil funding. The Governor’s budget proposal keeps California at the bottom of those rankings.

“This budget fails to include a cost-of-living adjustment for schools and all education programs, despite the steadily increasing operating costs for local districts,” said Rick Pratt, Assistant Executive Director of the California School Boards Association. “We’ve shown that the Governor’s budget severely underfunds critical programs, and that schools and students are once again being asked to do more with less.”

The proposal also shifts state cash flow problems to local schools by deferring the hundreds of millions in state payments that schools are currently owed.

“Continuing to balance this budget with a cuts-only approach hurts children and schools,” said Pat Dingsdale, Director of Legislation for the California State PTA. “The final budget agreement must include increased revenues as part of any approach to balancing the budget. We look forward to working with the Legislature and the Governor in passing a state budget that invests in the future of our students and our state.”